Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers:

William Nicholson (written by) and
Michael Hirst (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Woman. Warrior. Queen.

Plot:

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Court | Intrigue | Spain | America

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 13 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 15

4:05 AM

MAX

Cast

Jordi Mollà	...	King Philip ll of Spain
Aimee King	...	Infanta
Cate Blanchett	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Laurence Fox	...	Sir Christopher Hatton
John Shrapnel	...	Lord Howard
Geoffrey Rush	...	Sir Francis Walsingham
Susan Lynch	...	Annette
Elise McCave	...	Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton	...	Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish	...	Bess Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie	...	Margaret
Rhys Ifans	...	Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne	...	Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin	...	Savage
Clive Owen	...	Sir Walter Raleigh

Also Known As:

Elizabeth - Das goldene Königreich (Germany)
Elizabeth - L'âge d'or (France)
The Golden Age (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany

Language:

English | Spanish | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12A | Canada:14A | Germany:12 | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-13 | Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43467) | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Taiwan:R-12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | France:Unrated | Hong Kong:IIA | South Africa:13V | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Company:

Motion Picture ZETA Produktionsgesellschaft

Trivia:

The scene where Bess is learning to dance the Volta required the actress to be lifted in the air for every six counts. There were so many retakes that the actress was sore and had trouble walking the next day.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Elizabeth walks to mass after Walter Raleigh lays his coat down, Bess Throckmorton is right behind the queen. Then next shot, she's at the end of the line. The next, behind the queen again.

Quotes:

Queen Elizabeth I: [in German] You play the game very well, my young friend. But don't you sometimes feel an overwhelming desire to say what you're really thinking?
Archduke Charles: I daren't even think what I'm really thinking.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Coronation Banquet

Good Fun but Flawed History

Overall I enjoyed the movie. There have been too many recent films about the Tudors and Elizabeth in particular, but this film looks good and it keeps you entertained. It's set at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth is shown as tough, smart, and married to her country. She also suffers from bouts of insecurity and irrational jealousies. This film is more hagiographic and melodramatic than its predecessor.

The film tends to ignore the facts when they get in the way of the story. Elizabeth was 55 at the time of the Spanish Armada and she was never a looker. Blanchett's Queen is youngish and attractive. Blanchett's acting performance is powerful and impressive but also a bit stagy. The way the politics of the time are depicted is a bit too black and white. The Spanish look grim and are dressed in dark colors. They are portrayed as crazy, religious zealots. Spain had a right to be upset at English privateers / pirates who attacked their ships and stole their gold. Mary, Queen of Scots is shown as a dowdy, schemer who disliked Elizabeth. The reality was that Mary was a pretty bimbo who made bad choices when it came to men.

Parts of the film veer too much towards soap-opera. Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen)becomes a favorite, but when Bess Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting and Raleigh get secretly married, Elizabeth becomes jealous and behaves badly. Later, Raleigh and Francis Drake are shown defeating the Spanish at sea. In reality Raleigh was looking after the coastal defenses in the South West of England and didn't marry Throckmorton until 1591. The real Raleigh was a brilliant man: soldier, explorer, writer, poet and courtier and probably deserves his own film. The film is good fun but it's simplistic, cartoon history.